Only if our lives were perfect
by Gather In The Light
Summary: I can't really think of a good summary now. Gray and Natsu go to the same high school, and Happy is a human girl named Harper. The image used is a google image that I slightly photoshopped. On wimpy hiatus.
1. The First day

**-First Day-**

When I reach my high school, Fairy Tail Academy, on the first day of my sophomore year, the masses of people sort of overwhelm me, but if you go to FTA, you get used to it.

Something catches my eye as I go into FTA. I turn around and I see a small blue-haired girl wearing a guy's shorts and top. She is clinging to a tall boy with bubblegum pink hair and a tiled muffler, despite the 70 degree weather. The pink-haired boy doesn't seem to mind the girl clinging on to him, so I guess they're related or something like that.

The small blue-haired girl notices me staring at her and comes up to me. At a closer inspection, she looks very young, around 13-ish.

"Hello!" she says to me cheerfully. "I'm Harper, and the pink-haired boy is Natsu."

"Hi," I reply, glancing in Natsu's direction. He seems to be slightly sad, which I find odd. "I'm Gray."

"Nice meeting you, Gray," Harper says. Then she looks abashed. "Hey, do you know where Mr. Markov's class is? Natsu and I can't find it."

I glance at the group lists for the sophomores, then glance at the schedules. It turns out that Natsu, Harper, and I are all in the same group, 10-4.

"I'll show you to the classroom," I tell both of them. "We're in the same group anyway."

"Yay!" Harper exclaims. "Lead on!"

I lead them to the class, noting that Natsu hasn't said anything just yet.

 **-Period One-**

Mr. Markov glances at all of the students, judging to see who's friends with who. Harper sits next to Natsu. Juvia (as always) sits close to me, occasionally making little doe-eyed glances at me.

"Looks like we have some new faces," Mr. Markov finally says, startling Natsu, Harper, and 2 other unfamiliar faces. "Please stand up and introduce yourselves. That means EVERYONE," he states, glaring at everyone so they listen. "Starting with Wendy."

Then, people start introducing themselves, starting with Wendy.

"Wendy Marvell," she says, standing up.

"Mavis Vermilion," one of the newcomers says. She's small, with shimmering long hair.

"Gajeel Redfox," says the scary raven-haired teen who started a food fight last year.

"Carla Stone," another newcomer says. Oddly her hair is long and white.

"Lucy Heartfilia."

"Romeo Conbolt."

"Mest Gryder," says the tall, scarred teen.

"Harper Dragoneel!" says Harper, bouncing up and down a bit before sitting down.

Finally it is my turn. "Gray Fullbuster," I say.

"Juvia Lockster," says the blue-haired girl.

"Bisca Connell." Bisca's older cousin, Alzak, is the math teacher here.

"Sherria Blendy."

Natsu stands up. "Natsu Dragoneel," he says. His voice is a bit high for a teenager.

Mr. Markov claps his hands. "Okay," he exclaims. "Now, in Social Studies this year, we'll be learning..."

 **-Fast forward through a few boring-ish periods (Natsu talked to me a bit between periods). Now Lunch-**

After getting the slightly disgusting cafeteria food, I wander around the cafeteria, looking for a place to sit. Not near Gajeel, not near Lucy, but where...OH!

I notice the small blue head of Harper and the pink one of Natsu, sitting near Mavis. I head over to them.

"Oh!" says Harper when she notices me. "Come sit." I take her invitation and go sit. Harper then resumes her conversation with Mavis.

"Hello, Gray," Natsu says to me. "I do think that my sister is a social butterfly." He takes a bite of his sandwich

I nod at him. "Yeah, I agree," I reply. "She looks a lot young for a sophomore." I take a bite of my cafeteria food. Ick.

"She's 13," Natsu says. "But she's a bit of a genius though." He adds when he sees my surprised expression.

I nod at him and we resume eating our food.

"I call Harper Happy sometimes," Natsu says to himself five minutes later. "She's always so cheerful."

I silently agree. Harper still chats happily to Mavis, oblivious to our conversation.

 **-Another fast forward through some more boring periods after lunch ends to the end of the day.-**

"What a cool academy!" I hear Harper say as she exits the school with Natsu. "Gray and Mavis are so nice!"

"I agree, Happy," Natsu replies, putting his arm around Harper's shoulder. "Fairy Tail Academy is so much better than my old school!"

They tun down the street toward Icicle Street, which I live at. The name's pretty dumb, because I've never seen a single icicle there.

After a few minutes of walking, I get to the small white house where I live. When I knock on the door, my little sister, Ultear, answers it. She's in fourth grade so she gets out a lot earlier than me.

"Gray!" greets Ultear. "How was school? Anyone new?" She runs a comb through her long black hair and lets me in.

"Just four new people-Mavis, Carla, Harper, and Natsu." I reply, already halfway up the stairs.

I head to my room. My mom, Ur, says that my room is always a big mess, but that's because I have a bookshelf that falls down if something heavy hits the ground, spilling its contents everywhere.

Plopping myself on my bed, my mind runs through the day (which was slightly boring except for the Dragoneels and Ms. Scarlet putting Gajeel in a headlock). Then for some reason, I think, _That one new kid's rather cute._ I couldn't lay my finger on who the person is, which is weird. I usually remember who people are.

 **GITL (Gather in the light): I think this fanfic might evolve into a Gratsu story, I just don't think it will though.**


	2. The Dream

**GITL: Sorry the chapter is so short. Part of this chapter is a dream that Gray has the same day chapter 1 ends**

 _I wake up in a room full of mist. A heavy clomping sound makes me turn. The thing that is making the clomping noise is a humanish figure coming toward me. Their entire body is obscured by a shimmering nimbus, but all I see is a bit of pink coming from what I think is the head._

 _"Come, Gray Fullbuster," the figure says to me in a familiar voice, extending a hand._

BEEP BEEP BEEP!

I let out a moan of distress because a) my alarm clock is going off, and b) Ultear is standing in my room, dressed and ready to go to school.

"Hey, Gray," Ultear says to me. "Why do you strip in your sleep?"

I glance down at myself and realize I am only wearing my boxer shorts. "Aw, crap."

Ultear grins and skips out of my room. I get out of bed to put some clothes on.

 _Was I dreaming about Natsu?_


	3. To Hide

When I get downstairs (after putting clothes on, of course), my mother is waiting for me with some bacon-like stuff. I snatch it out of her hands and eat it.

"Gray, you don't have school today." my mom says.

"Why?" I ask, still chewing on the bacon thing.

"One of your classmate's parent was accused of murder the other day. The two kids are minor suspects. The police said that if you see a small blue-haired girl or a tall pink-haired boy, call them and they will take the kids into custody."

Ultear drops her book in shock. I gasp.

"Mom, I know those kids," I say, struggling to keep my cool. "Harper and Natsu. They would never murder someone!"

My mom looks mildly surprised. She opens her mouth to say something, but someone rings the doorbell a few times.

"I'll get it!" I yell and run over to the front door and open it. There I find a collapsed Harper and a worried Natsu attempting to try to wake her up by flicking a lighter in front of her face. They look pretty wet, since they have no coats (except for a black vest thing that's on Harper), and it's raining.

"Gray!" exclaims Natsu when he sees me standing in the doorway. "Umm...The police are after us, and we need to hide, and I think I can trust you."

"Come in, then," I say, and Natsu picks up Harper and carries her inside.

Ul and my mom look a bit surprised, but they didn't seem to mind when Natsu places Harper on the couch that's near the kitchen.

Harper coughs and opens her eyes. "You won't report us, please?"

"I won't," my mom promises. "Ultear, take Harper up to your room. Gray, take Natsu up to your own room, " she commands, taking control of the situation.

Ultear puts her arm around Harper and helps her up the stairs. Natsu plops himself on the couch and refuses to move.

"I'll just stay here," he says, folding his arms.

"Well, " I retort, yanking his arm. "You don't wanna get found by other people, do you? So come on up."

Natsu grumbles and comes up the stairs with me. I note that he still has that weird tiled scarf.

 **-That night-**

I sit on my bed, reading, while Natsu sleeps on the floor, wearing the same clothes as before. Ultear pronounced that Harper had a very high fever, and that made her older brother worry a lot, so he just curled up and slept on the floor.

During the day, the police knocked on the door twice asking where the Dragoneel siblings are. Ultear and I had to hide them, which was actually quite easy. But, when the one time when Natsu was almost found, the expression of pure terror on his face was stuck in my head until dinnertime.

Natsu rolls over in his sleep with a grumble. I then realize how darned cute he looks when he sleeps.

"The idiot," I grumble. "At this rate he's gonna get hypothermia." I take a spare blanket off my bed and drape it over him. The small touch of the blanket wakes him up, and he turns and stares at me.

"Where am I?" he asks, the looks around. "I guess I'm in your room."

"You are."

"Mrhp," he mumbles, and goes back to sleep.


	4. The NEW first day

I wake up in the morning of the next day to the sight of my bookshelf that had fallen.

"Ugggh," I groan, getting up to inspect the fallen bookshelf. "At this rate, there won't be a floor anymore."

When I am able to right the heavy oak bookshelf, I see two people that were by the bookshelf when it had fallen-Natsu and Harper. Harper must have gone to see Natsu, and then the bookshelf had fallen on top of them. It had fallen on me several times, but then I realize that Natsu and Harper are actually quite fragile-looking. Harper is underneath Natsu, so her brother must have taken most of the impact.

"Hm?" Harper mutters, pushing some of the books of of her. Then she sees Natsu.

"Niisan!" Harper exclaims, pulling herself out from under him. Her blue hair sticks to her face.

"Gray!" my mother yells, bursting into the room. "Is anyone hurt?!" She is in her work clothes.

"I think Natsu's hurt," I reply. "The bookshelf hit him in full when it fell. Harper might have a bruise or two." I crouch down to check on Natsu. His ribs might have been broken, and a large bloody red lump is on the back of his head.

"I think he has to go to a hospital," comes Harper's small, scared whisper.

"You can't take Natsu to the hospital," says my mother, extracting Natsu from the small amount of books that covered him and then lifting him up. "They'll arrest him on the spot. And Gray," she says to me. "Better hurry or you'll be late for school."

I heed her words and dash outside to get to school.

 **-At FTA-**

At school, everyone is aflutter with the news about Natsu and Harper.

"I don't give a crap," says Gajeel, folding his arms.

"But Harper would never murder someone!" retorts Mavis.

"Actually," says a small blue-haired girl called Levy. "It's their dad being accused, not them."

"Gray, what do you think?" Lucy asks, turning toward me.

I open my mouth to say something rude in response, but Ms. Scarlet interrupts the commotion.

"WILL YOU PLEASE STOP WITH THE CHATTER?!" she yells, getting up onto a table.

"YES, MA'AM!" all the students squeak, and they all stop. I slump against the wall. _Crap, now what? Natsu and Harper can't stay at our house forever._

"Gray-sama, what's wrong?" asks Juvia, noticing my distress.

"Juvia, its nothing. I'm just tired."

She gets the hint and walks away, her blue curly hair bobbing up and down.

 **-At Gray's house-**

"Mom, how's Natsu?" I ask the second I step into the house.

"He's getting better," my mother says, taking my bag away from me. "But he's using your bed."

I groan. I was _so_ ready to plop into bed and sleep away the chaos of the school day.

Then I decide to go up and see Natsu. He's sleeping, but he's tightly clenching the sheets with his fists, and Natsu's face is twisted up into a expression of pain. I feel really sorry for him, so I give him a little kiss on the cheek.

WAIT A MOMENT WHAT DID I JUST DO?

 _It's fine, Gray._ I tell myself. _Natsu won't notice, and I'm pretty sure no one saw._

I run downstairs to go do my homework.


	5. Switch

**GITL: Look, its turning into a Gratsu story *bounces happily around room***

 **-After I did all of my homework, I went to the room Natsu's in and gave him a little kiss again-**

Natsu's dark eyes flutter open. "Gray..."

"What?"

"Why are you standing here?" he inquires.

"Well, this is MY ROOM, so I get all rights to stand above you creepily." I am glad for the semi-witty comeback I had made. _Good, he didn't notice I kissed him._

"Oh...sorry. Hey, did your mom say I broke any ribs? Because my chest hurts a crap-load."

I shake my head. "Just one. You'll be fine." I start to walk out of the room, but Natsu's voice stops me.

"Hey, Gray...by any chance, do you think I'll be able to pass as a girl?"

Startled, I spin around. "Why?" was the only thing I could make come out of my mouth.

Natsu sighs. "Well, I don't wanna be stuck in here forever..." He lets out another sigh.

"If you de-spike your hair and wear girl's clothes, maybe." Natsu's hair, despite getting smashed by the pillow, is still quite spiky.

He chuckles. "Thanks Gray," he says, and I leave the room to go get dinner.

 **-During dinner. Harper and Natsu are not present-**

"Hey, mom," I ask while she attempts to take a book away from Ul. "Natsu was wondering if he could pass as a girl so he could go other places."

My mom successfully wrenches the book away from my little sister and glances at me in surprise. "Probably. Why?"

I shrug. "Apparently he wants to travel other places without being arrested." I take a bite of the quiche we are having for dinner. It's actually good this time.

"Tomorrow there's no school again, so maybe he could try that," chimes in Ul. "Harper wants to cross-dress too."

"Harper would make a very convincing guy. Natsu being a girl...not so much." Mom says. "By the way, Gray, you'll be sleeping on the floor."

I groan. To me, sleeping on the floor is a pain, but oh well who cares.

 **-The next day, 10:00 am-**

Harper comes out of the bathroom with a flourish. "How do I look?" she asks, grinning.

"Fine." (me)

"You look a bit weird." (Ul)

"Like a very feminine-looking guy, Happy." (Natsu)

"Try wearing a different top." (Ul again)

Harper _hmmphs_ and goes back into the bathroom. Today, Harper wanted to try cross-dressing, but Natsu was a tad weary about it. We all sit in my room (since it's the only room that's connected to a bathroom).

Finally, Harper comes out again, looking very much like a guy. We all give her a thumbs-up (that meant she looked very convincingly like a guy). Harper sits down, and now it's Natsu's turn. In case you're wondering, Natsu's rib healed super fast, to everyone's (all but Harper's) astonishment.

"So, what kind of look are you looking for?" Ul asks Natsu.

"Emo," Natsu says. He's already sort of emo, but the long black vest thing which on all of the places the coat ends is orange ruins the look.

Ul shoves some of mom's old clothes (Harper had to wear my old clothes for this) into Natsu's arms. With a small frown, he adds his tiled muffler on top and goes into the bathroom to change.

After an eternity of waiting (Harper chewing her nails half the time), Natsu comes out. He's wearing a loose black shirt with a band logo, and a pair of loose ripped black jeans. The tiled muffler is wrapped around his head like a bandanna. The discussion is thus as follows:

"Wear something under that shirt. It's a bit big" (Ul)

"De-spike your hair." (me)

"Wear some jewelry." (Harper)

"What should I de-spike my hair with?" (Natsu)

"Here's a flat iron." (Ul) [gives Natsu a flat iron]

[Natsu grabs some other things and goes into the bathroom]

"Do you think Natsu will pull it off?" I ask Harper.

"Sure!" she replies, staring at a fly on the wall. "Our dad says he pulled off a dress when he was in first grade!" She giggles. I get a really funny image of Natsu in a dress, and giggle too.

Finally Natsu comes out. This time, he's wearing the same outfit as before, but wearing a tight-ish top underneath the band logo shirt, and a chain necklace loops around his collarbone. But what makes him look most like a girl is the fact that his bubblegum pink hair is straightened, so it falls to the small of his back.

"Wow, niisan!" Harper exclaims. "You look like a girl!"

"Well, if I have to be a girl, Happy," Natsu says to his little sister. "You can't call me niisan."

Harper nods energetically. She really looks like a guy in my old clothes because he hair is short and apparently she isn't going through puberty, by the looks of it.

"Guys," I say, getting their attention. "If you are gonna be cross-dressing, and going places at the same time, you might want to have different names."

 **-7:00 pm in Magnolia Square. Tomorrow is Saturday. We are testing out the cross-dressing thing to see if it works-**

"Hey, Natalie," I say to Natsu (Natalie is his girl name). "Let's go sit down."

Natsu nods, and we go sit. Today, Harper didn't really want to try to be a boy in public (she felt someone would recognize her and call the police), so it was just me and Natsu.

 _Flashback:_

 _"If you guys are gonna go try to test it out in Magnolia Square at night, you'll have to watch out for Laxus." says my mother, reminding us of the bullying senior. Natsu and I are standing in the kitchen._

 _"Sure, we'll be fine," Natsu says._

 _"Then go," replies my mother. "Be back by 10."_

 _Flashback end_

People zip around the square, looking for something or going somewhere. Natsu glances around fearfully, watching for the police or Laxus. I don't blame him, I would be scared too.

I hear approaching footsteps and turn. Natsu turns too, startled.

Laxus approaches us. I smell alcohol on his breath, so I gently tug Natsu's hand. He understands and gets up.

"Hey, Fullbuster," says Laxus. "Who's the chick?" He starts toward Natsu, but I step in front of him.

"She's Natalie," I reply calmly. "And she's my girlfriend." I grab Natsu's hand. Natsu get what I'm trying to do and grips my hand back.

Laxus mumbles a very rude thing about girls, which makes Natsu bristle (even though he really is not a girl), and then wobbles away.

"Gray," Natsu mumbles, tugging my hand. "Will you come with me for a second?"

"Of course," I say, and follow him, hand in hand. He leads me into a alley near the square.

"Natsu," I whisper, using his real name. "What is wrong?"

He grabs my other hand and kisses me. My eyes widen. Natsu lets go of my hands and stares at the ground, embarrassed.

"I like you back," I whisper. He gets over the embarrassment and smiles at me, and gives me another kiss.

During the kiss, I think a few people glanced in the alley and saw a bubblegum pink-haired goth girl kissing a thin raven-haired guy. But in reality, it is a raven-haired guy and another guy cross-dressing kissing.


	6. Background

The next morning, when I head down at 5:00 to eat a early breakfast, I see Natsu with his hair still straight, my mother, and Harper all sitting at the table. Intrested, I take a seat near the end, and they don't notice.

"Why was my father, Igneel, accused of murder?" questions Natsu.

"Yeah, why was my adopted father accused?" chimes in Harper.

"Well," my mother says. "Three years ago, when you were adopted-Harper, was it three years ago or four?" she pauses to clarify. Harper holds up three fingers.

"When Harper was adopted by Igneel," my mom continues. "Her birth mother was murdered one year later. The police suspected it was Igneel, since they adopted you, Harper.

"Also, they thought that Harper had told Igneel to murder her birth mom. They also thought that Natsu had killed your birth mother under Igneel's orders. That's why you two are minor suspects.

"To avoid the police, your father moved different places a lot-How much did you guys move?" she stops to ask Harper and Natsu.

"5 times per 6 months," says Natsu, shaking.

"Eventually," my mom continues. "They caught up with Igneel and arrested him."

When my mom finishes, I am finally noticed by Natsu. He shakily gets up from his chair and walks over to me. Halfway over, he crumbles into a heap, so I catch him. Natsu cries into my shoulder, and I hold him. Meanwhile, Harper is curled up in a little ball, not letting anything disturb her.

"Why?" Natsu sobs. "Why did they?"

"I don't know, I say into his hair. "You're fine here." I gently stroke him on the back a few times, feeling like I usually am when Ul breaks a arm or something like that.

His sobbing turns into a sob with a little hyperventilating. I start to cry a bit too, sitting on the floor holding a emotional wreck of a boy in my arms.

 **GITL: This part made me sniffly as I was writing it. *cries***


	7. And then there were none

After Natsu gets over his fit (takes about three hours), he knocks on my bedroom door.

"What is it, Natsu?" I ask, greeting him. I had gone up to do my homework two hours ago.

He stares me straight in the eye. "Are you and Ultear related?" he asks.

"Why are you asking?" I reply, confused.

"Well, you now know that Harper and I aren't really related, so I was wondering if you and Ultear are related."

"Well," I reply. "We aren't really related because only Ultear's mom and my dad are married. That's really it." I sit on the floor.

Natsu's eyebrows raise a fraction. "Hmm...Hey, do you have a lighter?"

"Why are you asking?"

"I want to show you something," Natsu replies. He starts to rummage around in my desk drawers. Finally, he comes up with a spare lighter I have, in case I want to burn something (that happens very rarely though).

Natsu flicks on the lighter and presses the lit part to his finger.

"Watch out, you'll get-" I say, and then Natsu holds up his finger. No injury or burn of any kind. "Natsu, how-"

He shrugs. "Well, oddly I can't get burned in any way, shape, or form. I find it weird." Natsu puts the lighter back where it was.

After a long silence, Natsu says, "Do you think that ability is weird?"

I shake my head. "Of course not, Natsu. It's amazing!"

Natsu pulls me into a hug as a way of saying thank you. I hug him back.

"Oooooh so kawaii!" I hear a voice say. I release Natsu to see Ultear standing in the doorway.

"Ultear, GET. OUT. OF. MY. ROOM." I say fiercely, and she runs off giggling. Actually, she runs off giggling down to the top of the stairs, and runs back down.

"Natsu," Ul says. "Harper is feeling kinda down, so you might wanna go cheer her up."

Natsu hops up from the floor and goes downstairs. I follow.

Downstairs, in the dining room, Ul peeks under a table. "Harper, you can come out now. Natsu's here."

Natsu bends down to look under the table. "Happy, I'm here."

"Ah, that's good." comes the reply.

Natsu opens his mouth to say something, but is interrupted by a loud knocking on the door. "I'll get it!" my mom yells, and opens the door.

A few policemen stand at the door. "Ma'am, we need to search your house again for the kids." one says. He looks behind my mom a bit and sees Natsu and Harper. Natsu, on seeing the policemen, has tried to hide behind me in his terror, but he's pretty bad at hiding. Harper, well, blue hair is a hard thing to miss.

"Do not leave this house," the policeman says, shoving past my mom. He marches over to the table Harper's hiding under. The other policemen are gone, probably surrounding the house. With a quick hand motion, he extracts Harper from out of under the table, twisting her arm behind her back in a rather painful-looking way.

I hear a loud thump close to my ear and turn to see another policeman chasing Natsu around the kitchen. Despite the policeman's speed and anger, Natsu is faster and more calm, darting around the kitchen like a pink-haired ninja. Eventually the policeman gets frustrated and pulls out a small handgun, aiming it at the still-running Natsu.

"Watch it!" I shout, running over and grabbing the arm holding the gun. "That's my friend!"

The policeman is temporarily surprised, but gets over it quickly. I feel something metal jab into my side with , then, bolts of electricity flicker around me, causing intense pain. All I hear is a loud bang, a thud, and then a voice saying with pleasure, "We've caught the serial killer," before everything goes midnight-black.

 **GITL: Uh-Oh, something bad is gonna happen. Sorry for the cliffhanger.**

 **Anyway, in the next chapter, not-so-good things are gonna happened, so be warned!**


	8. What will happen now

I wake up in my own room. My mom and Ul are standing above me, looking concerned.

"The policeman jabbed a taser in your side, so you can't really go anywhere for the next few days," mom says. She pats my head, which feels kind of awkward because I'm 15 and not 7.

I open my mouth to reply, but it hurt so much. I hurt all over.

"Natsu and Harper have been arrested," Ul says, noticing my unsaid question. "And mom can't leave the house. She's sort of under house arrest."

 _What will Natsu and Harper do?_ I think. _I thought one of the police called Natsu a serial killer._

 **-Magnolia Prison, Dangerous Ward B (Natsu's POV)-**

"WHAT THE F*** DOES THAT MEAN!" I lunge toward the man who accused me, but am given a sharp kick that slams me against the wall.

"I told you already," the man says, folding his arms. "You wiped out Harper's family, making you a serial killer." He lets out a satisfied sigh. "Take him away."

Two guards approach me from behind. They grab my arms and drag me away while I call the accuser the most nasty insults I can think of.

Finally they throw me in a cell that I share with 3 other people. Harper curls up against the wall, while the other 2 people-a 17 year old girl and boy-smoking.

"Natsu-nii!" Harper squeaks. "Are you okay?"

I groan and slump onto the floor. "No. They think I wiped out out your whole family." Harper's eyes widen, and she curls up.

"Why."

"Hey, Dragoneel," says the other boy, walking over to us. "Maybe you should get the f*** away from your 'sister' and let her stay with me."

"Midnight, that's so rude of you!" says the girl. "I thought _I_ was your girl!"

"Sorry, Angel."

I stand up and head over to them. "If you lay one hand on my sister-"

With a loud _thunk_ I am sent flying across the room by a sharp kick. "Don't come near me, scum. I don't get how your 'sister' even likes you after you killed her entire family." Midnight sneers.

"He did not!" Harper yells back.

Midnight glares at her. "Welcome to the hellhole, serial killer Natsu Dragoneel."

 **-Gray's POV, 3 days later.-**

"Gray, Loke's here!"

I sit bolt upright. "Loke?" I get out of bed and run downstairs. Loke is one of my best friends. At times he can be annoying as hell, but otherwise he's actually a really good friend.

When I get downstairs, my orange-haired friend is waiting for me. "Hi, Gray," he says. "Heard you got tasered a few days ago."

He notices I deflate when he mentions that. "Oh, sorry Gray."

"Why'd you come?" I ask. "You don't usually come by that much anymore."

"Ul," Loke says. "She wanted me to come to talk to you."

"Why?"

"You're depressed." he replies.

"No, I'm not!" I yell in my own defense, shaking his shoulders. "I am perfectly fine!"

My tasered side flares up with pain, and I double over. Loke snickers, then helps me into a chair, being the nice person he is.

"According to Ultear, you just laid in bed for three days straight, staring at the ceiling with hollow eyes," Loke says calmly. "Gray, what's wrong?"

I guess I can trust Loke with this. "Loke, don't tell anyone this, even my family." He nods in agreement.

"I was in love with Natsu before he was taken away."

* * *

 **GITL: I apologize for the really short chapter today!**


	9. Message

Loke just raises his eyebrows. "Hmmm..Well, I think that other people might find that weird, so don't tell anyone."

"Thanks, Loke," I reply. Then I turn to my mom, who, as a respect of my privacy even though she was standing there the whole time, has her ears plugged. "Will I have to go to school tomorrow?"

"Yeah," mom says, unplugging her ears. "Just don't yell at anyone or smash your side into anything."

"Okay," I reply. Someone bangs at the door. Loke, out of his usual politeness, answers it to find a policeman.

"I have something for you, Gray," he says past an astonished Loke to me. "It's from someone in Magnolia Prison." He waves a bit of paper at me. "Can't send these by email, so I delivered it personally."

"Thank you, sir," I reply, walking past Loke to the policeman, who hands me the slip of paper. The policeman then leaves, closing the door behind him.

"What is it?" Loke asks.

"Well," I say, reading the paper. "It says to come to the park by the town square at 4:30 pm tomorrow. Doesn't say who it's from, though."

"That's weird," Loke says, also scanning the paper. "Hey, you missed something. It also says to bring Mavis with you too."

"Huh," I say. "That's weird. But I'll go anyway."

Loke nods. "I can ask Mavis to come. She's my younger sister's friend, and my sort-of friend also. Mavis trusts me."

"Thanks, Loke!" I say.

 **-Magnolia Prison, Natsu's** **POV (20 minutes earlier)** -

I sit curled up in the corner of the cell while Harper sleeps. I'm really grumpy and sore from the kick Midnight gave me. That friggin' bastard.

"Hey, Dragoneel," someone says. I glance around to see who it is, then notice the speaker is a tall guard. "You have a visitor. He used to be in this prison but now he's out. Come out." He unlatches the door to the cell and lets me out. "The visitor said he only needs to see you, not your little blue-haired friend," the guard says. "Hey, why does she still like you even though you murdered her entire family?"

I ignore his question as we head to the visitor's place. The guard holds my hands behind me the whole time.

When we reach the visitor place, the guard sits me down on a chair and leaves. The visitor's that had come to visit the prisoners stare at me like I'm some strange alien that popped out of the wall. In the room, there's a few chairs and a few people (some guards, I notice), but otherwise it's pretty damned empty.

As I glance around the room, my eyes alight on a tall, redheaded figure. Said person turns toward me, and I recognize his face, and he recognizes mine.

"Dad!" I yell happily. My dad smiles and quickly walks toward me, and we give each other a hug. The other people stare at this strange sight-a boy supposed to be a serial killer, hugging someone while that person holds no fear to the pink-haired boy.

"Natsu," he says, patting my head. "I understand everything that's going on right now. I can't get you out of here for good, but if I can do anything for you and Harper, I'll do it gladly."

"Um, dad, can prisoners accused of murder do community service?" I ask.

"Yeah, I talked to one of the people that worked here and the person said that they could. I take that you want to do community service so you can see someone?" my dad replies. "I can arrange that."

"Thanks dad!" I say happily. "The air in here is making Harper kinda ill, nothing serious or anything so don't worry, and she'll love the fresh air."

My dad smiles. "That's good." He opens his mouth to say more, but a guard taps his shoulder and says, "Time's up." My dad nods, giving me a quick hug before leaving.

The same guard takes me back to the cell.

"Hey, can I send any messages to the outside?" I ask the guard on the way. He nods.

"That's good, because I want to send a message to someone."

The guard gives me a piece of paper and a pen before shoving me back in the cell. "I'll be back in 5 minutes to get that," he says.

Harper is still sleeping, Angel and Midnight are also sleeping, so I'm the only one really awake.

 _Hmmm.._ I think. _What should I write? Oh, I'll send this to Gray!_ I scribble down a few things, and then the guard comes back.

"Who do you need this to get to?" he asks, snatching the paper and reading it. "It'll pass for delivering, just barely, though."

I tell him the address to the house and say, "Tell them it's for Gray."

He nods, spits at my feet in a very rude gesture, and leaves. I sigh and go over to a still-sleeping Harper. Patting her short blue hair, I think, _Tomorrow's going to be a very good day, Harper. We should thank dad for doing this for us._

* * *

 **GITL: Yay! 4 follows for this fanfic! Thank you all very much! *gives followers virtual cookies*.**

 **And, for this fanfic, if you're wondering if there's going to be a trial for Natsu, I might put one in one of the next few chapters.**


	10. Meeting

**GITL: I'd like to thank Kittenklaws13 for all the reviews. Thank You!**

* * *

 **-The Next Day (Gray's POV)-**

"Gray! Hurry up or you'll be late for school!" yells my mom. I drag myself out of bed and head downstairs. When I get down, Ultear starts giggling.

"What's so funny?!" I ask her.

"Look down!" Ul giggles. I look down to see that I'm only in my boxer shorts _again_.

I run back up to put some clothes on. As I put on some clothes, I notice Natsu's scarf lying on the floor. I dust it off and wind it around my neck.

My mom raises an eyebrow when she sees me wearing the scarf, but ushers me out the door anyway.

 **-2 periods into the school day-**

 **"** Science was so boring today," says Wendy to me as we leave the classroom. "I think that Mr. Fernandez was daydreaming about someone the whole time." She giggles.

"Yeah, I guess," I say. Wendy notices my downcast mood and looks at me worriedly.

"Are you okay?" she asks, touching my shoulder.

"Yeah," I reply. In reality, though, I am thinking about how Natsu and Harper are doing.

 **-Lunch-**

"Hey, can I sit with you?" asks Wendy. I nod and take a bite of my cafeteria food. Yucky as always.

The small bluenette sits down next to me and begins eating her sandwich. Just then Laxus walks up to the table and starts talking.

"Marvel," he says to Wendy. "Wanna date?"

What's wrong with that guy?

"No," Wendy says. "I really don't like you." I suck in a breath. Usually when people say that to Laxus, he or one of his cronies beats the poor person up.

"Then you must be dating this fellow sitting next to you," says another person, Laxus' green-haired friend Fried. He has a habit of popping up in random places and scaring the shit out of people. The nice thing about him is he really doesn't like fighting people, so he's a bit of a peacemaker.

I open my mouth and say in my defense, "We're actually not-", and am interrupted by another one of Laxus' friends popping up behind Fried, Evergreem, saying,"If you're dating, then kiss."

Wendy turns a crimson color, and I feel my face heating up.

"Do it or I'll kick your asses all the way to the roof," says Laxus.

I mumble, "Sorry, Wendy," and give her a quick peck on the lips. She turns pink, and Laxus' group leaves.

"That was weird," Wendy says. I give her a nod of agreement.

 **-After school-**

"Gray, what in the living daylights has happened to you?!" my mom yells when I get home.

"Umm...Apparently, Gajeel thought I was trying to beat up Levy, so he beat me up."

My mom just grumbles and hands me a bandage to cover the big red welt on my forehead. I place the bandage on and check the time. 3:45 pm.

"Um, mom," I say. My mom turns to look at me. "I have to go to the park now."

"Fine," my mom grumbles again. "Just be back by 4:45 at the latest."

"Thank you mom!" I yell, and run out the door. I am still wearing Natsu's weird tiled scarf. As I run, the muffler falls off twice and I have to stop and pick it up.

 **-Park-**

"Oh! Loke, I'm over here!" I shout, waving my arms. Loke sees me and walks toward me, Mavis in tow. She's quite cute, once you get a good look at her.

"Hello, Mavis," I say to her.

"Hello, Gray," she says. "You said that you got a note that told us to come here?"

"Yeah, I did," I reply. We go head over to a bench and sit on it. Loke leaves with a little wave.

Mavis and I start chatting about who might have sent the message, until a harsh-sounding voice interrupts us.

"You two, go over there!" the person yells. "Clean the bench those two are sitting on!" Then two people come toward us.

"Gray! Mavis!" one of those people shouts, and I see Harper running toward us, holding a cleaning rag.

"Hi, Harper!" says Mavis, and the two girls exchange a quick hug. I notice Harper and the person that is taking a longer time to get to the bench are both wearing drab tan clothes, so the only color they have on them is their hair.

Harper scrubs the bench while talking to Mavis. When the other person gets to the bench, I notice the person is Natsu. His eyes light up when he sees me.

"Hi, Gray," he says. Then he pulls me into a hug, and I hug him back. "How's life?"

"Nothing new," I say as Natsu attempts to hack a piece of gum off the bench. "Laxus forced me to kiss Wendy."

"Hm," Natsu says. "That's a very Laxus thing to do." He succeeds in scraping the gum off the bench.

"No, Evergreen suggested it."

Natsu shrugs. He then moves to a bird poop stain.

"So, how's your life?" I ask Natsu.

He makes a face. "Well, Harper and I share a cell with these two people called Midnight and Angel, and Midnight thinks it's his job to kick me. Harper and I only get one hour out of the cell, and the food's awful."

"Ouch," I say. Natsu continues speaking as he wipes up the bird poo:  
"Also they took away our other clothes and make us clean ourselves up (someone stole my shoes, look, no shoes), so my hair's back to normal. And these clotes gave me a rug-burn when Midnight kicked me."

I wince. "Here's your muffler," I say, unwinding it from my neck handing Natsu the scarf. He smiles and quickly wraps it around his neck. Harper sees and smiles at her older brother. Her blue hair is in tangles.

"Thank you, Gray," he says. "Oh, wait, I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" I ask. In response, Natsu hurriedly cleans up the bird poo, sets down the rag, grabs my wrist and drags me behind the bench, where a small cluster of trees are. The police officer just watches us.

We end up at the base of one of the larger trees on the edge of the forest part. The police officer still stares at us.

"Listen, Gray," Natsu says, still holding my wrist. "I was accused of being a serial killer that killed Harper's family, and the trial's tomorrow. If they call me guilty, I might..."

His eyes tear up. I wrap him in a hug, despite my eyes are tearing up too.

"This might be the last time we see each other," says Natsu, and pulls me into a kiss. I comply and kiss him back.

It seems like the kiss lasted five minutes, but it only is thirty seconds. I pull away from Natsu and quickly check my watch: 4:24 pm.

"Umm, I think I should hurry back now," I tell Natsu. "I'm supposed to be at home by 4:45."

He nods. I pull him into a quick hug and pat his spiky pink hair. "I love you, okay?"

"Okay," Natsu says. "Goodbye, Gray."

I turn and run all the way home, so they couldn't tell my sweat from my tears.


End file.
